1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to marine propulsion systems. More specifically it relates to such systems used particularly for large and long vessels where there is a considerable distance between a bow and a stern thereof.
2. Prior Art
Numerous systems have been developed in the past for propulsion of modern ships, however they all have the limitation of having water penetrate through the ship's hull between an inboard power system that drives outboard propeller assemblies so that these prior art systems always have a problem with water seepage into the vessel especially at underwater bearings of moving drive shafts. Additionally, engine vibrations and drive shaft forces threatens, in time, all joints therebetween passing through the hull. These limitations exist even in water jet tunnelled ships that have been developed, as is evident in U.S. Pat. No. 2,993,462 to Gough, U.S. Pat. No. 3,079,751 to Lewis and U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,333 to Roulund.